Exploring E-Planning Practices in Different Contexts

Abstract

As planners and decision-makers experiment with information and communication technologies (ICTs), it’s important to explore and analyze these attempts in different planning systems and contexts. The aim of the article is to compare the use of and aspirations attached to e-planning in Helsinki, Finland and Sydney, Australia. This comparison will highlight the interrelationship between planning context and its amenability to an e-planning approach and shows there are shared themes in both cases: firstly, the complexity involved in reconciling the aims of the e-planning experiments and their connection to the planning process itself (roles, objectives, implementation of tools and processes). Secondly, the way that e-planning opens up cracks in the façade of administration, and thirdly, the ways in which e-planning provides possibilities to reshape existing planning procedures. The authors argue that the different planning and governance contexts affect the adoption of e-planning and this adoption is necessarily a selective process.

Is a New ‘Planning 3.0’ Paradigm Emerging? Exploring the Relationship between Digital Technologies and Planning Theory and Practice

“…Rantanen and Faehnle (2017, p. 1) argue ICTs are supporting increased social self-organisation, which in turn is driving a 'new phase of urbanisation' in which planning processes and outcomes are increasingly 'user-driven' and decentralised. Wallin, Horelli, and Saad-Sulonen (2010) argue that ICTs are now facilitating co-learning, and broadening the reach of planners' engagement activities, and enable those who 'do not live in the place but feel connected to it, or other active groups who wish to be involved in the planning' (Horelli, 2013, p. 142). A review of three Finnish case studies by Saad-Sulonen (2014) also found that planners and communities are increasingly interacting beyond traditional communicative Web 2.0 ICTs such as emails, and online consultation forms, and the gap between citizens and planners is narrowing thanks to new Web 3.0 based ICTs.…”

The Renewal of the Finnish Planning Legislation as a Strategy of Urban Planning and Development

“…Recommendation 2: There is a need for new ontological lenses that embrace not only expertise but also local knowledge that produces both numerical and experiential data. Instead of defining specific technological applications, which might soon become late, the legislation should embrace an ecosystem of tools, digital and non-digital [23]. These should be embedded in an approach that expands the focus to and anticipates [42] the emergence of new openings in urban and eco-social development.…”

“…As flat ontology implies an application of a relational and dynamic epistemology, EP has adopted an eco-system of digital and non-digital tools for empowerment and analysis [23]. The methodology comprises a variety of enabling methods, as well as future-oriented research tools, including community informatics and city information modelling [9,23,24].…”

“…As flat ontology implies an application of a relational and dynamic epistemology, EP has adopted an eco-system of digital and non-digital tools for empowerment and analysis [23]. The methodology comprises a variety of enabling methods, as well as future-oriented research tools, including community informatics and city information modelling [9,23,24]. However, we adopt a careful approach to, for example, the digitalisation of planning, as technology evolves fast (AI; 6G networks) with unknown consequences for human behaviour, mindset, and the environment [25].…”

Towards Supporting Collaborative Spatial Planning: Conceptualization of a Maptable Tool through User Stories

“…Moreover, we drew on insights gained from previous map table-based PSS workshops [18,21]. Those user stories and experiences combined with the required baseline functionality of an online annotated map [40,41] formed the starting point for the conceptualization of the tool that is presented in this article. Figure 3 shows the workflow of our study that is elaborated in the following subsections.…”